About

Carol Anne Klee is a professor affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, specializing in Spanish and Portuguese Studies, with a focus on Spanish linguistics. She holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Texas, along with an M.A. in Hispanic Literatures from the same institution and a B.A. in Spanish from the College of Wooster. Her research primarily concentrates on Spanish language contact, dialect contact, sociolinguistics, and content-based language instruction. She has contributed extensively to the understanding of linguistic variation and change in Spanish, particularly in contact situations such as migration and globalization, with a notable focus on Peruvian Spanish and dialect contact phenomena. Klee has authored and edited numerous publications, including books and articles on Spanish sociolinguistics, language contact, and applied linguistics, and she actively participates in scholarly activities as an editor and member of editorial boards. Her work also explores issues related to language variation, migration, and heritage language maintenance, making significant contributions to the field of Hispanic linguistics.

Research topics

• Humanities
• Philosophy
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Art
• Mathematics education
• Epistemology
• Engineering
• Pedagogy
• Engineering ethics
• Linguistics

Selected publications

• La variación gramático‐léxica del español peruano

  2025-07-18

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Language Change and Migration: /s/ Variation in Lima, Peru

  Languages · 2025-11-29

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  In Peru, large-scale migration from the provinces to Lima in the second half of the twentieth century has created a context of intense language and dialect contact. This study examines /s/ variation among migrants from the Andean region, where Quechua, Aymara, and varieties of Andean Spanish—shaped through long-standing contact with these indigenous languages—are spoken. We analyze the speech of 59 participants representing “classic Limeños,” whose families have lived in Lima for several generations, and three generations of Andean migrants, using corpora collected in 1999–2002 and 2012–2013 to trace linguistic change in apparent time. Univariable analyses show significant generational differences: as distance from migration increases, aspiration becomes more frequent and elision declines, while [s] remains relatively stable after the first generation. Multivariable models incorporating migrant generation, family origin, neighborhood, education, and sex reveal that while a combined variable of migrant generation and family origin is significant, neighborhood, education, and sex are stronger predictors. Speakers from established neighborhoods, those with university education, and female speakers favor aspiration and [s], aligning with prestige norms. Mixed-effects logistic regression of linguistic variables confirms structured sociolinguistic change: the following segment is the strongest linguistic predictor, and there is a clear intergenerational shift from elision toward aspiration. However, constraint hierarchies—especially following segment and stress—remain stable, indicating change in rates rather than in linguistic conditioning.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Dialectología y lenguas en contacto

  2022-10-12 · 4 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Uno de los factores que ha conducido a la diferenciación dialectal del castellano a través de la historia es el contacto de lenguas, tanto en la península ibérica como en Latinoamérica, los Estados Unidos y partes de África y Asia. En este capítulo se examinarán las situaciones de contacto que han dado lugar a las diferentes variedades dialectales del castellano y los factores que han influenciado estos cambios. Se analizarán los resultados derivados del contacto que han contribuido a la variación dialectal del castellano al nivel léxico, fonético/fonológico, morfosintáctico y semántico, considerando que cada situación de contacto es única y los resultados específicos del contacto no son homogéneos. También se examinarán los desafíos relativos a determinar la contribución del contacto y la difusión de las variantes derivadas del contacto a la variación dialectal del castellano. Finalmente, se sugerirán áreas para futuras investigaciones tomando en cuenta estos desafíos.

  PublisherDOI

• Social Environment and Spanish Language Teaching: Sociolinguistic Competence and Language Use

  2021-10-19

  article
  Publisher

• La sociolingüística en la enseñanza del español como lengua segunda y lengua de herencia

  Journal of Spanish Language Teaching · 2021 · 4 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Humanities
  • Humanities
  • Philosophy

  RESUMENEste artículo examina el papel de la sociolingüística en la enseñanza del español como lengua segunda y lengua de herencia, empezando con una descripción de la función y el espacio que le han dedicado a la sociolingüística los marcos curriculares más importantes (MCER, PCIC, ACTFL World-Readiness Standards) y algunos de los principales enfoques metodológicos en la actualidad (p. ej., comunicativo, por tareas, multiliteracidades). Asimismo, se detalla la importancia de aproximaciones sociolingüísticas en los modelos y estrategias para la enseñanza de variedades del español, incluyendo aquellas que están en contacto con otras lenguas, y el papel de la sociolingüística en elucidar las ideologías lingüísticas implícitas y explícitas en los materiales didácticos. Se plantea también la importancia de incluir instrucción sobre conceptos sociolingüísticos en el proceso de formación docente.

  PublisherDOI

• Variationist analyses of assibilated /r/ in Peruvian Spanish

  2021-09-02 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  In this chapter, we provide an overview of previous studies of the rhotics in Peruvian Spanish, in both coastal and Andean varieties, followed by a description of the social and contextual factors that influence assibilation. We then describe a study of dialect contact in Lima, focusing on assibilated /r/ in the speech of 40 residents of Lima, comprising first-, second-, and third-generation Andean migrants, as well as classic Limeños. A multivariate analysis showed that migrant generation was the strongest factor conditioning /r/ assibilation in Lima, with the highest probability of assibilation occurring in the first generation and to a much lesser degree in the second generation. The third generation assibilated even less than classic Limeños. Regarding linguistic factors, assibilation had a greater probability of occurrence when /r/ was in initial position and when preceded by a sibilant. We conclude with the implications of this study for language change in Lima and provide suggestions for future research.

  PublisherDOI

• El léxico-gramática del español: Una aproximación mediante la lingüística de corpus

  2021-05-31

  book

  Los fundamentos del estudio empírico de la lengua. La lingüística como ciencia del lenguaje -- La lingüística de corpus -- Los corpus del español como L1 y como L2 -- El sintagma nominal. El léxico del español -- El núcleo del sintagma nominal -- Los modificadores del sintagma nominal -- Los pronombres -- El sintagma verbal. La concordancia verbal -- El tiempo y el aspecto verbal -- El modo verbal -- Los verbos copulativos: ser y estar -- La oración

  Publisher

• Sociolingüística aplicada a la enseñanza del español / Applied Sociolinguistics in Spanish Language Teaching (SLT)

  Journal of Spanish Language Teaching · 2021 · 17 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Humanities
  • Linguistics
  • Humanities

  (2021). Sociolingüística aplicada a la enseñanza del español / Applied Sociolinguistics in Spanish Language Teaching (SLT) Journal of Spanish Language Teaching: Vol. 8, Applied Sociolinguistics in Spanish Language Teaching (SLT): Social Environment and Language Use / Sociolingüística aplicada a la enseñanza del español: entorno social y uso de la lengua, pp. 105-113.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• La percepción de los castellanos del Perú

  2020-07-28 · 2 citations

  book-chapterSenior author

  El presente estudio toma como punto de partida el enfoque de la percepción como mecanismo cognitivo central en los procesos de variación y lo aplica a la diferenciación de variedades distintas del castellano hablado en el Perú. Se sostiene que las supuestas variedades son resultado de conceptualizaciones de los hablantes, las cuales son dependientes de una percepción subjetiva de carácter social. Distinguimos entre la percepción analítica, que implica la capacidad de aprehender rasgos discretos, y la percepción sintética, que supone la capacidad de percibir de modo global las variedades lingüísticas, y nos valemos de estos conceptos para organizar los enunciados producidos por hablantes de diferentes generaciones migratorias a Lima. Los resultados del análisis de la percepción analítica demuestran diferencias claras entre la primera generación de migrantes y los neolimeños (adoptando el término de Arellano y Burgos 2004) en su percepción de un rasgo fonético (/s/) y de un rasgo morfosintáctico (el leísmo). En cuanto a la percepción sintética, no encontramos muchas diferencias entre los grupos; las percepciones positivas hacia la variedad limeña y las negativas hacia la andina están presentes en la primera generación de migrantes andinos y parecen intensificarse en sus descendientes.

  PublisherDOI

• Social change and /s/ variation in Concepción, Chile and Lima, Peru

  Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics · 2020-01-30

  book-chapterSenior author

  Abstract This study compares /s/ variation in the Spanish of Concepción, Chile, and Lima, Peru in the context of sociolectal and dialect contact. Results for the Chilean data stand in stark contrast to previous studies in Chile, revealing an overwhelming tendency for elision in all social groups and providing support for the hypothesis that in Chile sociolectal leveling is occurring. In contrast, in Lima, where Andean migrants encounter overt discrimination and where virtually exclusive use of [s] indexes Andean speech, there is an increase in /s/ weakening across the second and third generations of migrants, whose production approximates coastal norms. Thus, in contrast to Chile, /s/ reduction in Lima continues to serve as a marker of dialectally and sociolectally salient differences.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Rocío Caravedo

  8 shared

• Paul Greengard

  Rockefeller University

  4 shared

• Fernando R. Ibarra

  University of Buenos Aires

  4 shared

• Ray M Wakefield

  University of Minnesota

  4 shared

• Diane J. Tedick

  4 shared

• Anita Aperia

  4 shared

• Dale A. Koike

  4 shared

• Leif Svensson

  Karolinska Institutet

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• Ricardo A. Narváez Award for outstanding service and great d…
• Council of Graduate Students Outstanding Faculty Award (2011…
• The Emma Birkmaier Award of the Minnesota Council on the Tea…